Starting...

గురు బ్రహ్మ గురుర్ విష్ణుః గురుర్ దేవో మహేశ్వరః  

గురు స్సాక్షాత్ పరబ్రహ్మ తస్మై శ్రీ గురవే నమః

శుక్లాం బరధరం విష్ణుం శశివర్ణం చతుర్భుజం

ప్రసన్న వదనం ధ్యాయేత్ సర్వ విఘ్నోప శాంతయే

శ్రుతి స్మృతి పురాణానాం ఆలయం కరుణాలయం

నమామి భగవత్ పాదం శంకరం లోక శంకరం

ఓం నమః శివాయ

With the grace and blessings of god, I want to share some little knowledge I have gathered by listening to great people like Brahmasri Chaaganti Koteswara Rao garu, Brahmasri Saamaveda Shanmukha Sarma garu and others. I would be attempting at writing small small stories and episodes which have a clear cut lesson. I sincerely hope that this will be useful to every one who reads these and may God bless every one.

Guru is the greatest person for any human being. Very evident from the first slokam above. So, lets kick off with a small story about Sri Sri Sri Sankara Bhagavath Paadulu (Sri Sankaraachaarya).

Quickly refreshing your memory about Sri Sankaaraachaarya - He is one of the greatest gurus. He is an incarnation of Lord Siva. In Kaliyuga when people started creating different branches based on vedas and Sanaatana Dharma, he took birth and brought every one together with this greatest philosophy of Adwaitha Siddhaanta. Dwaitha means two. Adwaitha No Two. Only one. Indicating that there is only one thing in this world, which is God and God is all pervasive. He established four Peethas on 4 directions of India. He died at a very young age of 31 but what he established 100s of years ago are still functional (Talk about management). He was an expert in Tarka Saasthram (Arguments and discussions) and there was none to beat him in that field. Not just that field, any field for that matter. If any one doesnt have a guru, he/she can have Sri Sankaraachaarya as Guru. There is no one else who can be taken as Guru without proper Upadesam or Sishyarikam. This is the greatness of Sri Sankara. I am certainly doing lot of injustice by writing only few statements about Sri Sankara but...

So lets come to todays small story and its about Sri Sankara.

One day Sankara went out for Bhiksha (Begging is not the right word, but for making understanding easy, am forced to use it). He was a 8 year old boy. When he goes to bhikhsa he would stop at one house randomly and ask for Bhiksha by saying, "Bhavathi Bhikshaan dehi." They would say this three times, with some gap ofcourse, and if the house hold person doesnt come out with Bhiksha, they he would leave that home and would not go to another house that day for Bhiksha. 

Walking on the road, he finds one hut and he stops in front of that hut and shouts for Bhiksha twice. The woman inside could not come outside because she is an extremely poor woman and she doesnt even have a full saree to wear. So she says from inside, "Sir, kindly dont ask 3rd time. I dont have anything in my house, but I am looking for some thing. Kindly dont go away." People would know the significance of giving Bhiksha and the punyam that it begets. Especially with some one like Sankara, opportunities dont come often. So Sankara waits and feels lot of sympathy for the woman. Immediately he prays for Goddess Lakshmi by reciting "Kanakadhaara Stotram".

Immediately Goddess lakshmi appears before Sankara. "What do u want Sankara from me?"

Sankara, "I dont want anything from you. But look at this woman. She doesnt have even a grain in her house and she is suffering from abject poverty. Why dont u bless her?" Such is the greatness of sankara. They always think of others. Some one who can invoke goddess lakshmi goes out for Bhiksha. Having power is not for utilizing. Having some expertise is not something that should be used for our own self. 

Lakshmi, "How can I give her anything Sankara? She did not give even a grain to any one in her previous janma when she was having plenty of money. She did not do even one punya kaaryam. Hence she is suffering from poverty in this janma. Let her do one punya kaaryam and I shall change her fortune."

Hearing this Sankara thought for a while and told the woman. "In that shelf of yours, there is one dried up gooseberry (amla or usirikaaya). Please put that in my bowl."

As soon as the woman dropped that gooseberry in Sankara's bowl, Lakshmi filled her house with golden gooseberries.

This is the power of Gurus. They can change our fortune if they want. They can rewrite our account books (paapa punya kaaryam accounts over the janmas). So, what we give to others is what belongs to us. What we keep doesnt belong to us. I shall elaborate that statement with a story next week.        

సర్వే జనాః సుఖినో భవంతు

PS: There could be typos and other mistakes in telugu and english, kindly pardon me with big hearts.